Needless to say
My sewing day which was planned for the bulk of yesterday did not materialise for one reason or another and I seemed to have been "bitting" about all over the place and not getting anything done despite the best of intentions. To tell the truth with the cooler weather coming in I have not felt a hundred per cent (despite me having had a relatively good summer) on the pain and stiffness front. Then I have to preserve my energy and my sanity by resting here and there. It is very frustrating but the only way I manage to be able to get on with things in the longer term. I think it will be the end of the week before I will be able to attempt to do the same again. Believe you me I have a pile of projects, mending, making, test driving things to do as well as well as stuff for the pantry, the freezers etc.
I have made use of the time though as I have been watching tutorials for different things, finding new people whose vlogs/channels are very interesting with tutorials that are A***.I learn so much from watching other people's ways of doing things, often with extra information that they have learned during the making of many batches of this and that.
I went to the shop this evening hoping to get some reduced bread to put into my dehydrator to make breadcrumbs and also croutons. Sadly there was nothing on the reduced shelf but shall look out tomorrow as need to get these done as I make copious amounts of soup during the winter months and it is nice to have croutons to garnish with. However I also make a lot of stuffing from scratch so breadcrumbs are needed for this. Along with dried herbs and veggies you can make your own personalised stuffing for different dishes as well. I am choosing to dry the breadcrumbs for my Pantry shelf but you can freeze the crumbs instead. A regular make in this house is bread pudding which makes something out of nothing and is extremely yummy.
However I did find some reduced leeks when I went round to the shop. Some of them are intended to go into a beef stew. Some may end up in a relish for sarnies during the week. This is a fridge preserve and only keeps about a week but it is very tasty. Some I wanted to dry for use in casseroles and stews and soups during the winter months along with other vegetables and the goodness that comes from them. I intend to load up my small dehydrator tomorrow and will be following this tutorial here:
I also want to can a load of stock for soups and stews and gravies as well. It would be so handy when I am cooking to just be able to grab a ready supply off the pantry shelf knowing what was in it and also knowing that it is full of goodness.
I have two canners. A steam canner and a Presto Pressure Canner which I still have not tackled despite having wanted them for a long time. I think part of the problem is that I have such a small kitchen where you cannot swing a rat and it is a performance getting everything out and ready to do something. This is not just restricted to the preserving but everything. I intend to remedy this soon though. It would make my life so much easier for when I am back to work in having home made soups, stews, stocks, fruit, meat etc. to hand during the weekdays as you can create quite a lot of good substantial dishes very quickly. I also need extra storage space so one is cancelling out the other a little at the moment. I shall get there though.
In October/November (when hopefully it will be cooler) as I also want to get into some meat preserving as well which although I have done some i.e. home made bacon, and Gravadlax, Savoury Ducks, Faggots, Haslet, potted beef. However, I want to get stuck in with different salamis, Biltong, Jerky. I also want to dabble with cold smoking as I am very fond of smoked food. I have been looking at recipes for Pastrami, Spiced Beef also known as "Bombed Beef" which is a long-standing traditional meat served originally as part of the Christmas Festivities, corned beef and ultimately I would love to have a go at a ham at some point. Realistically that may be for next year though but we will see how things pan out. Real life often gets in the way despite the best of intentions and plans. I think I am too optimistic at times. We shall see what happens it will not be down to the lack of trying.
I have just one more square to crochet for my blanket before I start tidying the ends and crocheting the squares together. So there has been a little progress made.
Right had better turn in now as need to get ready for tomorrow.
Catch you soon.
Pattypan
x
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